


The (real) Solangelo story

by Violet_is_here



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Bisexual Jason Grace, Bisexual Will Solace, F/M, Friends to Lovers, It’s 2015 in this story, Jasper broke up, M/M, Might get kinda dark ngl, Nico and Jason get a little weird, ToA doesn’t exist, Transgender Will Solace, it’s all family friendly enough tho, percabeth, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22296418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violet_is_here/pseuds/Violet_is_here
Summary: Takes place after BoO, but Leo returns and all is well. Skipping the infirmary, because we all know how many times that’s been done before.This is the story of Nico and Will and how they came to be the couple we all know and ship. Get ready for a roller coaster, guys
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Calypso/Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Nico di Angelo & Jason Grace, Nico di Angelo & Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 10
Kudos: 160





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story to ever be published, and part of me expects to update it a lot, but I don’t have a schedule for it. Thanks for reading, anyway (:
> 
> (Sorry for the short first chapter, but I thought I would just throw it in as a pilot)

**  
Nico **

After leaving the infirmary, Nico could only wonder if it would be weird to approach Will again. There had been some animosity between the two since Nico first stepped into the healers’ building. Will certainly seemed to have had enough of him after the second night in the patient room, when he and Nico argued about Nico’s sleep schedule. Will was just as stubborn as he was tall, and it was frustrating when all Nico wanted to do was rest.

What? He knew the rest was well overdue, even if he didn’t want to admit it. It was unhealthy to refuse sleep. He had his own reasons for not wanting to, though. Those reasons could probably keep anyone from wanting to sleep; exploring Tartarus alone wasn’t exactly the best idea he’d ever had, but he had to do it to save the world.

He almost scoffed at the last thought.

Saving the world. No one knew he was a part of the quest until he showed up with Reyna and the statue. Heck, it wouldn’t surprise him if one half of the camp thought he was a traitor and the other half thought he tortured animals for fun. They never thought he was capable of being a hero, no matter how many times he proved himself to them.  


Maybe he was more like his father than he thought.

Nico almost missed the blonde standing on the dark porch of the Hades cabin. He seemed to be having a conversation with someone, but Nico couldn’t quite see the other person yet. But what was Jason doing at his cabin? He’d thought Jason would have been spending the day with Percy and Annabeth, or even Piper.

“Nico!” Jason called just loudly enough for Nico to hear. The action only caught the attention of a couple of Aphrodite kids and Hermes kids. The other person walked into view. Nico rolled his eyes and made his way to the front of the cabin.

“What are you guys doing here?” Nico asked. “Don’t you have lives to be saving?” he asked Will. The son of Apollo shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s actually pretty slow today. Only one fight and a couple of issues with the lava wall. I wanted to take a break before capture the flag tonight.” Jason looked at Nico and tried to find something to say. Of course, neither of the two ever seemed to know exactly how to act around Nico. Even Will got a little weird when Nico entered the picture.

“There’s a counselor meeting tonight,” Will said. “Well, it’s more right now than it is tonight, I guess. Chiron sent me to get you, but Jason got worried and decided to follow me.” Jason looked at Will like he’d just been betrayed.

“I’m just watching out for you guys. I don’t want either of you getting murdered.” Nico laughed.

“Will couldn’t hurt  _ anyone _ .” Faster than he’d anticipated, Will reached out and grabbed his wrist, pressing his thumb into Nico’s lower forearm.

“I don’t  _ want _ to hurt anyone. I  _ could _ ,” he continued, “but I don’t like doing it.” He pushed down a little harder on Nico’s arm. “But a vertical cut, slash, or stab wound right here could kill you. Listen, I don’t know what made you want to hate me, but I’d prefer it if you didn’t, because I would love to be friends with you.” He let go of Nico’s arm. “I mean, I get it if you wouldn’t want to. I’m not anything special. Just don’t hate me,” he finished. Jason looked between the two boys a couple of times. Nico rolled his eyes.

“We can talk about it later.” With that, the three walked to the Big House in silence. Poor Jason looked like he could die of embarrassment, but Will smiled at people walking by and said hi to those who said it to him just like he did any other day. Nico, of course, held an emotionless glare.

\- - - - - -

“After the war we lost many amazing children,” Chiron said. Will, Travis, and Clarisse seemed to be the most upset by his words. “They were your siblings, your friends, and your family.” He paused for a bit, trying to find the words he needed to continue properly. “This can’t bring us down. We have to celebrate them, and we need to move on just like they would have wanted us to.”

“What are we doing here, Chiron?” Travis asked, clearly worked up about the speech.

“You are going to make friends here, and the way you have to do that is to share something about yourself and treat the surrounding demigods as equals. So, go ahead.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiron tells them what’s up, Nico freaks out, and Nico and Percy finally get to talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first actual chapter, because the last one was (like I said before) more of a pilot or an introduction.
> 
> And thank you guys so much for the kudos and the awesome comments! You guys are amazing!

**Nico **

_ “What are we doing here, Chiron?” Travis asked, clearly worked up about the speech. _

_ “You are going to make friends here, and the way you have to do that is to share something about yourself and treat the surrounding demigods as equals.” _

\- - - - - -

“Um...don’t we already do that?” Percy asked, confused. “I mean, that’s kinda cryptic without context. Not bad cryptic, just...cryptic.”

“I mean that you all will get to know each other on a more personal level.” Nico couldn’t help but feel his insides twist with discomfort and nervousness. “Of course, no one will force you to be friends, but Dionysus and I believe that it would be best for the camp and all of the cabins if all of you learned to get along — or at least learn not to loathe each other,” the centaur replied, directing a look towards Clarisse. “Communication and togetherness is important, especially in times like these.”

“With all due respect, Chiron, I think we already have all the friends we want,” Pollux told him, frowning. Nico almost wanted to agree, but he felt like someone (namely Jason) would disagree with him.

“Can we at least make this something that only the campers that want to be here do? Because as far as we know Jason is going to go back to his camp and Nico is going to run off again.”

“What?!” Jason asked, turning his head to face Miranda.

“What are you talking about? Neither of them planned on leaving!” Annabeth said, trying to defend the two. The Italian teenager felt a little uncomfortable at the thought of Annabeth talking for him. He hadn’t spoken to her or Percy in a few weeks. At least he knew he was on good terms with her.

Miranda looked at Nico.   


“Listen, I don’t hate you guys or whatever, but I’m thinking about this logically. Besides, you didn’t actually want to stay here, right? You never have before.” Nico hesitated, and that hesitation caused an uproar from at least ten of the counselors. Questions from Percy, Annabeth, and Will about why he would leave seemed to drown out the rest of everything, and he just wanted to disappear at that point. He stopped listening to what was going on around him as his breathing grew quicker.

“Hey, Nico, stop!” Jason ordered, shocked. Nico gave him a confused look, then got hit with a wave of exhaustion. The others stared at him.

“What?” he asked dumbly.

“ _Okay_ , everyone. I’m going to take him upstairs, and you guys can continue with-“

“I can take him,” Percy volunteered, stopping Jason’s venomous words. “I mean, we probably need to talk anyway, right?” he asked Nico. Jason looked like he was about to say something, but Nico nodded.

“Sure.”

“Cool.” The son of Poseidon stood, and he helped Nico to do the same.

“If he’s not feeling any better in ten minutes-“

“Straight to the infirmary,” Percy nodded. “I know, Will.” The medic formed his lips into a straight line at the son of Poseidon’s words, then looked down at the table, arms crossed uncomfortably over his chest.

Chiron began another conversation with the group. At that point Nico noticed how cold the room was. He walked out of the basement with Percy and followed him to Chiron’s office. He felt instantly better when he sat down again, but didn’t think moving was a great idea yet. Percy sat next to him on the firm couch. About six feet in front of them was a large desk with three chairs around it. There was a record player and a box of records in one corner and a large plant in the other.

“You okay?” Percy asked.

“What happened?”

Percy sighed, then paused as if he couldn’t think of what to say.

“You looked like you were about to panic.Jason just noticed it first, I guess. But Chiron and Lou Ellen were helping us try to get everyone to shut up, and a couple of people were just yelling for the sake of yelling...No one meant to freak you out. The room got cold, and the shadows looked like they were reaching for you, and then you snapped out of it.”

“Oh.”

“But I also want to talk to you about something.”

“What is it?” Nico asked.

“Well, maybe it’s a little awkward, but I want to know if we’re cool,” Percy replied. “I mean, I feel like we haven’t talked since you told me about..?”

“Oh...” He had so many other things he wanted to say, and it felt like all of the words were building up in his throat, but he just couldn’t let them out. Percy took that as an opportunity to keep talking.

“I just...You hated me — I mean, I thought you did — and everyone was always talking about how you had a crush on Annabeth, which was supposed to give you another reason to hate me. I was just surprised, I guess. Out of all the things I could have expected you to say — I mean, that was never something that would have even crossed my mind.” Nico must have looked somewhat distressed, because Percy continued. “I want to be your friend, Nico. I’ve always just wanted to be your friend, but I thought you hated me.” Nico coughed out a laugh.

“I tried to for a while. I wanted to hate you. I wanted to blame you for Bianca, and I wanted to be mad.” It was now or never, Nico guessed. If he wanted to be friends with Percy, he needed to clear the air. “I was just mad. I was mad at the world for making me a demigod. I was mad at my dad for telling me I had to prove myself. I was mad at Bianca for leaving me. And I was mad that I could never be mad at you. Listen, Percy, you never did anything wrong, but I don’t want to talk about this anymore unless I’m okay with it. Any of it. Don’t tell anyone, and don’t let Annabeth or Jason tell anyone. I never wanted to be like this, and I know it’s wrong, and I know it’s weird. I...I’m not mad anymore, and I want to keep it that way.” Percy looked like he wanted to say something.

“What?” he asked.

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Nico. I’m sorry you think there is. It’s not wrong. I just hope you’re able to really believe that eventually.” Percy stood up. “Are you feeling better?” he asked.  


Nico nodded. “Just tired.”

“We should probably go back downstairs, then.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The camp counselors get a bit personal, and Jason has a question for Will
> 
> (This chapter contains mentions of homophobia and transphobia, but they’re very minor, so I wouldn’t call it triggering(?))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the reads! I don’t really think I deserve them, though. My writing is average at best. I’m just glad that some people enjoy this (:
> 
> Edit: I just looked and there’s 374 hits and 28 kudos?! Thank everyone so much! I mean it <3

  
**Will**

_ “There’s nothing wrong with you, Nico. I’m sorry you thing there is. It’s not wrong. I just hope you’re able to really believe that eventually.” Percy stood up. “Are you feeling better?” he asked. _

_ Nico nodded. “Just tired.” _

_ “We should probably go back downstairs, then.” _

\- - - - - -

Will was a little shaken up. Causing someone to panic wasn’t really something he did. It made him feel horrible. Miranda looked guilty, and so did Jason and Annabeth. Jason’s expression was mixed with something more, though: anger. Of course, Will didn’t blame him for that. 

Chiron explained to them that they should only be sharing as they’re comfortable sharing and that they shouldn’t feel pressured to tell someone something they aren’t ready to just because another person was more comfortable sharing personal stuff, which was a good thing to say. 

“So some people might say more personal stuff and other people might not?” Connor asked. Chiron nodded. 

“When Nico and Percy come back we can begin sharing, so you have time to think about what you’re going to say.” 

Will thought about it. He was a pretty private person, really. Sure, he was nice and friendly, but he really didn’t tell people much about his past, and people usually didn’t even ask. Sometimes the people that believed they were good friends with him really didn’t know much about him at all. It was weird at first, but he got used to the people not caring as much about him as long as he cared enough about them.

Everyone’s heads turned at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Percy came in first, followed by a normal looking Nico di Angelo. He didn’t look tired or stressed. His face held the same blank glare.

Chiron explained everything to them, and they nodded. 

“Who goes first?” Will decided to ask. 

“We can go by cabin number,” Lou Ellen suggested. Chiron nodded at her.

“Cabin number, starting with Zeus,” the centaur replied, looking at Jason, who was clearly caught off guard when he was put on the spot.

“Uh, I was raised by wolves,” he told them.

“What?” Lou asked.

“Yeah. To get to the Roman camp you have to go through training with Lupa - she’s the wolf that raised Romulus and Remus - before you’re deemed fit to enter. She sort of raised me because my mother gave me to her when I was two, and she trained me to be a demigod.”

“Mom of the year,” Piper joked.

“Yup.” After a few seconds, Percy realized it was his turn.

“Oh. I don’t know...I had a step father before Paul. He was abusive. But in the end he turned into a statue because the head of Medusa ended up in our fridge, and my mother and I were never happier before that day.”

“How did the head of Medusa-“

“It’s a long story.” There was an awkward silence until Miranda cleared her throat.

“I’m scared of the dark. Like, last time I tried to sleep in the dark I stayed up crying for three hours, and I ended up having to share a bunk with one of my sisters to calm down.” A couple of people nodded, then Clarisse frowned.

“This is stupid,” she said. “I don’t need to make new friends or whatever. I don’t want to pour my heart out to a bunch of strangers. You sissies can do it, but I don’t see the point.”

“Miss La Rue, please-“

“You said we didn’t have to if we weren’t comfortable, right? Well, I’m not comfortable,” she told them all. Chiron sighed.

“Well, would you like to pick up where she left off, Miss Chase?” he asked. Annabeth nodded.

“There are some gods and/or goddesses that I really hate, that make me want to be done with being a demigod and just try living a normal life away from all of this.” They were all expecting a boom of thunder or something, but it didn’t happen. “Huh. I guess they think that’s fair.” This time there was laughter from some of the people at the table.

“Will?” Chiron asked as they all settled down.

“I mean,” he began, hesitating. It actually took a lot more willpower than he expected to be able to say to a bunch of strangers. “I’m bisexual.”

“Everyone already knows that, Solace,” Travis told him. Will rolled his eyes.

“Fine. Well, I’m also trans, which I’m sure a lot of you don’t know,” he replied before really thinking about it.

“Really?” Leo asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Yeah.” All of a sudden, he wasn’t feeling so great anymore. He didn’t let it show, of course, but he started feeling pretty nervous after saying that. “Female to male,” he clarified, some nervousness obvious in his tone. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that?

“Cool,” Butch from the Iris cabin said, breaking the awkward silence. Will drew in a short breath, then acted like he normally would.

“Yeah.” 

Okay, maybe he wasn’t acting exactly like he usually would, but that was fine. He was acting on impulse and a lack of sleep, really. He’d probably regret bringing it up later.

He got the feeling someone was watching him after he said that, but he also had a feeling that he already knew who it was. 

“Alright, what about you, Leo?” Chiron asked.

“Easy. I’ve been to six different foster homes, and I had to change homes every time I ran away. I ended up at the Wilderness School with Piper and...Well, Jason wasn’t really there, but you get it.” He seemed pretty confident with his answer, but Will could tell he was slightly nervous. 

It was weird. Leo wasn’t exactly the stereotypical foster kid, but, then again, stereotypes aren’t accurate all the time. They were hardly even accurate half the time.

“I got there by stealing a BMW because I wanted my dad’s attention,” Piper said after that.

“Oh.”

Of course, Connor and Travis talked about some behind the scenes Hermes cabin mischief. Pollux said something vague about his mother, but that was all. When they got to Nico, there was silence.

Nico didn’t tell them to skip him or that he didn’t feel comfortable, he just seemed to be struggling to find his words.

“I went to Tartarus before Percy and Annabeth,” he offered. It seemed more casual than Will would have expected, which was somewhat unnerving and extremely concerning.

“Wait, really?” Lou Ellen asked. She’d never actually been friends with Nico herself, but she’d heard a lot about him from Will (all good things, of course). She wasn’t interested in him romantically or whatever, but she did knew he was a force to be reckoned with, and she always wanted to be on his good side. She kind of envied him, not that she would ever admit it.

“Someone had to find the doors of death, right?” He asked with a somewhat playful, dry tone. “I volunteered. Death doesn’t scare you when you already have plans for the afterlife if things don’t work out.” 

“What?” Percy asked. 

“I made a deal with my dad. If I don’t go to Elysium, he said I could work for him instead of ending up in Asphodel. I mean, if I got sent to the field of punishment he wouldn’t try to get me out of there, especially if he thought I deserved it, but yeah, I have a plan.” He paused for a moment. “My dad isn’t bad, he’s just hard to warm up to, I think.”

“Dude, you’re talking about Hades as if he’s your friend,” Butch said. 

“No, I’m talking about my father as if we have a decent relationship. Besides, working in the underworld is going to let me stay close to my sister when she goes to Elysium.”

“Your-“

“Hazel. Daughter of Pluto. My sister.”

They moved on from there when they discovered that Nico was done talking about all of that. Butch told them that he was gay (Will already knew that because he’d talked with Butch’s boyfriend a few times). He didn’t reveal that he was in a relationship, though. After that was Clovis, who said that he’d spied on people’s dreams before he realized he was a demigod and found out what his powers really were. They had to skip the Nike and Nemesis cabins because they didn’t have any claimed campers yet, and they moved on to Lou Ellen.

“I’ve granted people favors before with the magic I knew when they needed it. I’m not so proud of all of those favors, but they were always ones that I owed. There were some pretty messed up things that a couple of people did, but I couldn’t control them. I didn’t know how to fix things at the time, either. I lived with it until we moved to New York and ran into a monster.” There was a pause after she said what she did. Will knew she had no intention of explaining herself, but other people may not have known that.

“What kind of favors?” Annabeth asked her.

“Like I said, I’m not proud of everything I did, but Connecticut is a pretty tough place to live as a kid, especially when your dad works as much as mine does.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I mean, I’ve moved past it now. I never did anything sexual, and I never went too far. Those were my only actual rules, for things, though.”

It was tough wrapping things up in the end. Chiron told them all not to repeat anything they heard or there would be consequences, and then he waited for other people to talk. Some people were awkward, and some left before Chiron even technically dismissed them. Others stuck around, though, which was good. Jason, Percy, Miranda, Annabeth, Piper, Will, Nico, and Lou were still in the basement with Chiron. Nico looked a bit uncomfortable, but that wasn’t surprising.

“Since you guys are still here, how did that make you feel? Do you think it would be comfortable if you did that again?”

“I think we aren’t going to get anywhere if we force each other to say stuff like that again. It’s obvious that some of us were put in the spot, and it’s even more obvious that no one knew how personal was too personal,” Will replied, pushing his hand through his hair.

“You seemed rather comfortable, William,” Chiron noted.

“I mean, people are either going to like me or dislike me in the end. I mean, stuff like that is kind of important to tell people, especially if you have to live with them and try to be their friend.”

“But no one should feel obligated to give so much information at once,” Lou added. Will nodded.

“Sometimes it’s important to tell people, and sometimes it isn’t.” Chiron nodded, and then there was a minute or so of silence.

“So how does the whole trans thing work?” Percy asked. “I mean, I don’t want to be rude or anything, I just don’t really know much about that.” Will stiffened up a bit. All eyes were on him. It wasn’t unusual for people to look at him when he was going to speak (it was the polite thing to do, after all), but he didn’t really speak much on topics like this unless he was talking to other trans campers. Maybe he was really uncomfortable, but he put himself in that position.

“It’s somewhat of a mental thing, I guess. During a pregnancy, a baby’s brain will develop differently than the body. When a kid is born, some know something is wrong right away, and others don’t know until they hit puberty. But yeah, gender dysphoria hits — dysphoria is the depressed and disconnected sort of feeling you get when you’re not the right gender because your brain developed differently from your body — and you figure it out eventually if you learn what “transgender” means. I didn’t hear it until I was about twelve, and I couldn’t do anything about it until I was thirteen. When I came back to camp Michael and Lee helped me cut my hair and style myself properly, and I got a decent chest binder.” Will laughed slightly, ignoring how poor and rushed his explanation seemed. “And that was the last year I would be allowed to go back to my mom’s house in Texas. She sent me here to “figure myself out and hang out with more girls my age”, but as soon as I visited after my first year here my mom figured out that I was too deep into it all, I guess. She couldn’t change me — not that she would have been able to otherwise, of course.”

“Seriously?” Jason asked.

“I mean, it was kind of worse when she figured out I liked girls. She figured that out on her own, and back then she didn’t have any place to ship me off to until I straightened myself out.” Lou Ellen pressed herself against his side gently. It was something one of them did when the other was upset. They were around the same height, so it worked out. As best friends, it was kind of an obligation.

“I’m sorry about that, dude,” Percy said. Will shrugged.

“I mean, it could be worse.”

“Yeah,” Lou laughed. “It kind of is, for her. Her son is a greedy bisexual that can’t pick a side,” she joked. Will laughed.

“Yup.”

Will was trying to ignore Nico’s look seeming more and more uncomfortable throughout the conversation, because something about that hurt more than the talk they were having.

\- - - - - -

“Hey, Will?” Jason asked as they left the big house.

“What’s up?” Will wondered.

“How did you figure it out?” Jason asked.

“Figure what out?” Jason sighed.

“The...You know, the  _bisexual_ thing.” Jason whispered just that word, as if saying it would get him in trouble if the wrong people heard.

“I had crushes on guys and girls. I knew as soon as I heard the meaning of bisexual. Why?” he asked, even though he had a pretty decent hunch as to why Jason was asking.

“Just curious, I guess.” Jason looked out into the crowd of people in the camp. “I’m gonna catch up with Piper. I think we’re still figuring things out. I’ll see you around,” the Roman demigod told him before jogging away to catch up with his former girlfriend (Will didn’t really know what was going on, but he was pretty sure they had stopped dating a couple of weeks ago). 

Well, he had nothing to do now but go to the infirmary to prep for the capture the flag game that was scheduled to happen that evening, so that’s what he did.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot happens, and Will wants to befriend Nico

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly can’t believe how much support this story has gotten. I’m sorry for not publishing this chapter very quickly, but a lot cake up, and I meant to actually publish this a week ago. Just thank you. This means a lot to me (:

**  
Will **

_ “How did you figure it out?” Jason asked.  _

_ “Figure what out?” Jason sighed.  _

_ “The...You know, the bisexual thing.” Jason whispered just that word, as if saying it would get him in trouble if the wrong people heard.  _

...

_Well, he had nothing to do now but go to the infirmary to prep for the capture the flag game that was happening that evening._

\- - - - - -   
  


Capture the flag was always an intense game at Camp Half Blood. The Ares cabin got aggressive, the Hermes and Hecate cabins were tricking anyone and everyone, and the Hephaestus cabin always seemed to have slightly better versions of the usual weapons for their teammates. On top of that, there were all the other campers that took out all of their anger and frustration from the past week and let it out on the battlefield. This particular game, though, was absolute chaos, and Will knew that because he was seeing the aftermath of it all.

A lot of people were bruised and bleeding, and there were five broken bones that needed to be fixed plus seven to thirteen possible concussions. What on earth were they doing during the game? Trying to actually murder each other?

And, of course, Nico di Angelo just  had to be one of the injured people in the infirmary that night. He had a sizable gash on his thigh that required stitches, so while Will was doing that he decided to check up on the werewolf scratch.

“Wait, so which one are you looking at first?” Will shrugged instinctively, but corrected himself.

“The leg. I mean, that’s what’s bleeding profusely right now, right? I need to make sure whoever did that missed any vital arteries and stuff like that.” So, of course, Nico ditched the pants and Will started cleaning the area so he could make sure it didn’t get infected. Nico frowned and looked at anything but Will. Will could tell that he felt awkward, but wasn’t really sure why.

“What are you thinking about right now?” Will asked.

“What?”

“Sometimes I ask that to patients that don’t feel entirely comfortable starting a conversation. It usually makes things easier on them and me. Besides, I like having conversations while I do this.” Nico nodded, then stayed silent for a minute or so. When Will got up to find a razor to shave some of Nico’s leg hair before stitching him up (because that made things easier on everyone, really), the younger of the two finally said something. Will had had a feeling he would do that.

“So bisexual...that’s, like, half homosexual, right?” Nico asked. Will chuckled a bit, then turned back to Nico to shave that part of his leg.

“I mean, not exactly,” he replied. “It’s just an attraction to men and women instead of one or the other or something different.”

“Different?”

“Ask the Aphrodite cabin about that if you’re comfortable. They can explain all of it better than I can. Besides, we don’t really have much time for it right now.” He turned to put the razor away. “But yeah, that’s basically it for me. Bisexual.” Nico nodded and stayed silent for a while longer. Will grabbed the needle and thread, then sat back down again to begin stitching. He was a little more than half way through the stitches when Nico began talking again.

“And you just... _talk_ _about_ it? To anyone?” At this point Will has a feeling that this conversation was going to be a bit more personal than he’d wanted.

“I mean, I’m not exactly shouting it from the rooftops or anything. The people that know about it know, and the ones that don’t just don’t. I’m not denying it, though, if that’s what you’re asking.” Nico sighed. It seemed like he was about to say something, but one of Will’s younger sisters, Victoria, poked her head through the door.

“Will, we need you in room six when you’re done here,” she said.

“Okay.” After that, it was silent. He was almost done with the stitches when he said something else. “My mom doesn’t really agree with the way I live my life, but I can’t change, so I don’t plan on pretending to be something I’m not for her. I mean, I never would have chosen any of this. Besides, a world full of people that do and don’t accept you is impossible to live in when you don’t accept yourself first.” He tied off the stitches and cut the end of the string down so it wouldn’t stick out too much, then grabbed a small square of ambrosia from the counter and cut it in half. “Okay, this should speed up the healing process, but don’t take it until I’m finished looking at the other scratches, okay?” Nico nodded again. Will then cleaned off his thigh again and proceeded to wrap it in gauze.

“Can I put my pants back on?” Nico asked when he was finished.

“Oh, we have a few pairs that should fit you. I’m assuming you want black jeans?” Will joked at the end.

“Yeah, I guess.” Will grabbed them for him and sat them on the bed, then Nico took them and put them on.

“It would be easier if you took off your shirt for this, but you don’t have to.” This time, Nico shook his head. After that, Will rolled up the short, black sleeve of the shirt to the top of Nico’s shoulder, then rested a gentle hand on the claw marks. The infection seemed to have gone away, which was good, but they were still a bit red and swollen after the set of stitches Will redid. It wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been, but these things didn’t look to be healing quickly at all. At least they were healing a little bit, though. “Don’t these hurt?” he asked.

“It’s not that bad. It’s definitely nothing I can’t handle.” Will sighed.

“I told you to come see me about these if they still hurt _at all_ , Nico,” the blonde reminded him. Nico looked down, then back up to meet his eyes again.

“It’s okay, really. They’re not so bad anymore.” Will pressed his fingers a little bit harder, then hummed a bit as Nico tensed up. He knew the kid had a concerningly high pain tolerance, but he’d also managed to learn how to figure out if Nico was in pain or not while he stayed in the infirmary the first time. 

“The ambrosia should help both your leg and your arm. That’s why I gave you that instead of regular painkillers. If the claw marks don’t look any better tomorrow, I suggest that you come by and let me look at them again. I can’t make you do anything, but I hope you’ll do what’s best in the end.” He began to roll Nico’s sleeve down and gave him permission to take the ambrosia.

“Thanks, Solace.” And there it was. The tension that had been building since Nico’s first day in the infirmary was back. Will frowned a bit, but kept his composure for the most part. He didn’t really understand why things were so tense. Maybe Nico just didn’t want to be friends with him or something, but it did bother Will a bit that he wasn’t making things better.

“Any time, Deathboy,” he replied. Then, after so many days of interacting with Nico, he finally got something. Sure, it was just a small smirk, but knowing that he’d finally gotten somewhere made him happy. “I mean, where would the camp be without my amazing gift of healing?” Nico actually did fully smirk this time as he got up to walk out.

“Be careful. You’re starting to sound like your dad,” Nico joked. Before Will could reply, he walked out, leaving Will smiling like an idiot as he began to clean up and get ready to move to room six.

\- - - - - -

After working for at least two and a half hours, Will stood in one of the private bathrooms, ready to take a quick shower and head out. He really just needed to rinse off and wash his hair. He took off his shirt, and, like he did on so many other nights, he stared at his body, his chest squished beneath the binder he was wearing. He didn’t like the way it curved in at the waist and out at the hips, but being born female does that to you. He had the stereotypical hourglass shape, so, naturally when he worked out, he tried to work out parts of his body that would make him look more like he felt he should. Will was seventeen, and he’d been on testosterone for two years before that (even though it technically wasn’t entirely legal). He was genetically predisposed to better looks and superior physical qualities through his godly side, as all demigods were, so he’d fully finished puberty when he was thirteen and grew to be 5’11 a few months ago now, which was tall for a girl, but pretty average for a guy (which was nice).

He decided to look away from the mirror before thinking about all of his flaws, but it was a bit late for that. He undressed the rest of the way.

“Alright, Lars think about... _Kaitlyn_ ,” he said to himself as he stepped into the shower. His little sister was fourteen. She had blonde hair and green eyes, and she was an amazing person. Thinking about her almost always made him feel better.

The shower couldn’t have taken longer than ten minutes. He stepped out and ended up putting on a too tight sports bra to give his chest a break from the binder. Then, he put on a t-shirt with a flannel over it, giving him a more rectangular shape and doing a good job to sort of hide his chest, which, thankfully, wasn’t as full as one would expect with him being as tall as he was. The January weather wasn’t bad because of Chiron and Mr D. keeping it warm inside of the camp’s borders. With the shirt and flannel, he put on a pair of jeans and some flip flops. After that, he headed out into the world again, walking past the rooms in the infirmary and past the large area of cots in the front.

“Hey guys,” he said, smiling as he approached Austin and Phoebe. Austin’s hair was in corn rows that looked like double helixes, which was really cool. He was dressed more casually than usual, wearing a plain white button up and black pants. Phoebe was wearing a crop top with high waisted short shorts.

“Hey, Will. Tough day, huh?” Austin asked.

“Yeah. It seemed pretty brutal today,” he replied.

“Hey, didn’t you treat the Hades kid today?” Phoebe asked. “Nico, right? He seems kinda weird.” Will nodded, frowning slightly. He truly didn’t think Nico was bad, the poor guy just wasn’t great at socializing. He was awkward and uncomfortable around people, but he wasn’t outwardly disrespectful or angry. He could seem rude, but it was mostly because he was blunt and standoffish (in a normal way, not in a disrespectful or malicious way).

“He’s not weird. He’s just socially awkward. He’s not a bad guy or anything, though.” Austin nodded.

“He’s fourteen or fifteen, right?” Will nodded.

“But doesn’t he hang out with dead people?” Phoebe asked.

“I have no idea. I mean, if he visits the underworld, then he probably talks to dead people.”

“But he just seems...I don’t know. Like he hates the world, maybe?” Will sighed. “I mean, he avoids pretty much everyone, and the only people he does talk to are Percy, Annabeth, Jason, and you.” Will sighed, having gotten more agitated than usual with his sister judging someone she didn’t know, and decided to leave before he actually got upset.

“I’m going to go to the cabin to prep for the campfire. I have some stuff I need to do.”

\- - - - - -

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!” he yelled out into the arena. Some people stopped and looked at him, but the target of his anger wasn’t paying attention. He frowned, matching through the not-so-crowded area to Nico. “ Hey! ”

Nico saw him and frowned, stopping his assault on the poor practice dummy.

“Excuse me?” He asked.

“I just put stitches in your leg  today , Nico! And this much exertion is probably what’s keeping your other scratches from healing — I told you to _take it easy_!”

“I was. How did you even know I was here?” Of course he asked that. Why wouldn’t he? This was completely random harassment from this guy he didn’t even consider a friend (oof).

“I, uh...I asked Jason where you usually were, and he told me that you usually trained before the campfire. But that’s not important. What do you mean you were taking it easy? Because what I saw definitely wasn’t “taking it easy” by any means.” Nico didn’t react to anything he said, really, simply replying just as bored/angrily as he’d been talking.

“I usually do more intense training sessions. I’m not doing much with my leg, and the scratches are on my right arm, so, because I’m not right handed, I’m not straining that arm, either.” Will looked down and noticed that Nico had the practice sword in his left hand.

“Oh. Well...” Nico revived the almost invisible smirk again.

“It’s okay. Stressed?” Nico asked.

“Like you wouldn’t believe. Can I talk to you?”

“What about?” Nico asked, his smirk disappearing.

“No, I want to talk to you. Like, hang out with you. I want to figure out what’s going on here, because I want to be friends with you, but I can’t figure out if you like me or not.” Nico’s smirk disappeared, and Will worried that he was being too forward, but Nico nodded, crossing his arms. Of course, now he was feeling kind of awkward, and the tension was back.

They walked together to put the sword away. Will noticed some weird looks from a lot of people, and it made him kind of uncomfortable, but Nico didn’t even look at them. They walked past those people, put the sword away, and then left the arena.

“You want to be friends with me?” Nico asked as if the words tasted sour.

“I mean, yeah, but we don’t have to be if you don’t want to be. I’m not gonna lie, though, I’m kinda sick of the tension that’s building up here. I want to figure that out at least.” Maybe it wasn’t the best response, but he was really trying. He wasn’t entirely sure how to talk to Nico yet.

“You don’t want to be my friend.” Maybe it was just the stress he was feeling that day, or maybe it was the fact that his emotions were getting the better of him for some reason, but he scoffed.

“I’ve wanted to be friends with you since I met you on day one. You’re nothing but what you make yourself, Nico, and you’re making yourself into some aloof, unapproachable, mysterious dude that no one can manage to trap in a conversation. This has nothing to do with whether anyone actually wants to be friends with you or not, it’s how you act about it.”

“Excuse me?”

“The only people you ever talk to are the ones that went on the quest, and you refuse to talk to anyone else. People assume things and make up rumors because they don’t actually know anything about you. And it’s not like you’ve ever gone out of your own way to clear things up, you just let it hang in the air. You hated Percy and Annabeth, then they’re your best friends. You were this dorky little kid, then you became this emaciated emo stereotype. You look good, but at the same time it looks like you’re half dead.” Suddenly, something clicked in Nico. The air grew colder, and the grass at his feet turned brown, the little oval shape growing in diameter as he spoke.

“My mother was scared for my life because I was a freak, and then she died. We survived the attack. My sister died on a quest after Percy swore that he’d protect her. I followed this ghost that promised that we’d rule together and be happy, but he lied, and I destroyed him. I-“ He stopped himself, then looked at Will with a deadly glare. “I have my reasons for acting the way I do, Will, and I don’t have to explain them to _you_.” His voice suddenly lost its malice. Now he just sounded tired. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. And, trust me, being around me will get you hurt.”

With that. Nico walked past him. Will wanted to stop him or say something, but he couldn’t. He felt like he was frozen in place. His head hurt, and his abdomen was sore. At this point it was beginning to click. What he said probably hurt Nico. Why did he say that stuff anyway? After a couple more seconds of thinking, he realized his problem. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico talks to Hazel and gets some advice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry for the wait. I’ve written and rewritten this chapter so many times, and I just couldn’t find a good enough way to finish it until tonight. I want to thank everyone for the support, and I really hope this chapter is okay. Things have just been really stressful (getting a job, moving out, starting college, and dealing with the world as it is this year hasn’t been easy to cope with)
> 
> But like I said, I hope this chapter is enjoyable enough, and I’ll have another one up much sooner than I did this one (:

**  
Nico **

_“My mother was scared for my life because I was a freak, and then she died. We survived the attack. My sister died on a quest after Percy swore that he’d protect her. I followed this ghost that promised that we’d rule together and be happy, but he lied, and I destroyed him. I-“ He stopped himself, then looked at Will with a deadly glare. “I have my reasons for acting the way I do, Will.” His voice has lost its malice. Now he just sounded tired. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. And, trust me, being around me will get you hurt.”_

_ With that. Nico walked past him. Will wanted to stop him or say something, but he couldn’t. He felt like he was frozen in place. His head hurt, and his abdomen was sore. At this point it was beginning to click. What he said probably hurt Nico. Why did he say that stuff anyway? After a couple more seconds of thinking, he realized his problem.  _

\- - - - - -

Nico skipped the campfire that night. He felt like he’d had too much social interaction that night, and he really wasn’t feeling very happy with the day he’d had. 

He was almost warming up to Will until the talk they had when they’d left the arena. Why did he have to ruin it? He didn’t know what to say, so the first thing out of his mouth was something that led to Will being irritated. It was too much for him to want to think about, really. 

Just as he decided he didn’t want to talk to anyone for the rest of the day, an Iris Message popped up. The voice of Iris came through saying the message was from Hazel, then it asked if he wanted to accept. He answered to her smiling face. 

“Nico, we just won the war games!” she said excitedly. She was obviously somewhere more private, but he assumed she meant she’d just gotten back from the games. He gave her a small smile.

“Good job. Were you on the front lines this time?” he asked. This led to an excited explanation about how her tunneling system worked and how she used the Mist a couple of times to make sure that when people did find her tunnels they ended up not really knowing where they went. He was proud of his little sister, really. 

“How are you?” she asked.

“It could be better, but it’s not that bad,” he replied. But at this point he decided to explain everything to her, and he was hoping she would take it well. “Hazel, I can trust you, right?” Her smile turned a bit confused. 

“I mean, I definitely hope so. We’re family, right? I know I trust you, and I wouldn’t tell anyone something if you didn’t want me to,” she replied. Even if it was difficult to understand her brother sometimes, Hazel knew what to say to help him be as content as he could be, and he was thankful for that.

“Okay...” He was silent for a bit longer than he’d wanted to be after that, and she began to get worried.

“Why? Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yes, Hazel, I’m okay.” He took a deep breath in, then let it out in a sigh. “I just don’t want you to hate me.” 

“I could never hate you, Nico. You’re my brother.” He sighed again, then decided to just get it all over with.

“What do you know about homosexuality?” he asked.

“I know that it’s the opposite of heterosexual, and that a lot more people are gay and lesbian now than they were when we were born. When a man loves a man or a woman loves a woman.” After waiting a few seconds for a response, she asked, “Why?”

“How do you feel about them?” He was beginning to let his distress show, but he didn’t care to keep it in anymore. Hazel loves him. 

“Nico, please just tell me what’s going on. I don’t see what this has to do with...” Suddenly, Nico could see the pieces fitting together in her head when he asked another question.

“Do you accept them?” A look of sympathy appeared on her face. The look on her face made it clear that she’d realized what was going on.

“Oh, Nico...I support good people. I support people with good character. I don’t care who someone does or doesn’t love as long as they try to be good people.” Nico let one tear fall from his eye, but that was all. He wiped his face and proceeded to ask what he wanted to know.

“Do you think I’m a good person? Even if I prefer men?” Hazel nodded.

“I love you, Nico. I think you’re a great person, and the people you love don’t change that in my eyes.” Nico smiled. He didn’t crave physical contact often, but he wouldn’t mind a hug from her.

“Thank you, Hazel. I love you too.” He wasn’t done yet, though. “I knew Percy already when you introduced me to him at Camp Jupiter.” She nodded, having known that since everything had gone down. “I had a crush on him. I liked him for a couple of years, actually. It’s all over now, and it has been, but I guess I wanted to talk to you about it.” His sister offered a sympathetic smile. 

“So am I the first person you’ve told?” she asked, probably not entirely sure what to do with the newfound information. 

“Well, actually...No.” he replied, wincing at the memory of telling Jason.

“Oh?”

“Well, we had to get the Scepter of Diocletian, and Eros — Cupid — was guarding it. He told me that I could only get it if I was “honest about my feelings” with Jason, and I didn’t really have much of a choice.” Hazel frowned, her eyebrows knitted in a concerned expression. “And Reyna and Hedge found out while we were delivering the statue. And I told Percy and Annabeth about it a week after the war ended.” He thought for a moment. “I haven’t really put much thought into it, but I guess more people know than I realized. You’re the sixth.”

“Were you not comfortable telling me?” his sister asked.

“Well...When I told Bianca, she told me to hide it from everyone. She said that people aren’t kind to...gay people. We never talked about it.” Before his sister could say anything, he added something else. “But you’re not Bianca. I used to be upset because of that, I’m not anymore. I love you just like I love her. You’re not a replacement, and she’s not someone you should ever want to be for my sake.” Hazel smiled.

“Thank you, Nico. Not only for giving me a second chance at life, but for giving me a second chance to have a family. You and Frank and our friends — you guys are a better family than I’ve ever had.” Nico smiled at that. “Oh! What time is it in New York? Should you be sleeping?”

“I should actually be at the campfire right now. I had a really long day, though, and I’m kind of peopled out. I’m going to go to bed when we’re done talking.”

“I guess that means I should go, then. Besides, I promised Frank that I’d rest after the games with everything that happened. It was nothing too bad, he just worries, you know?” she asked, shifting into a different position while sitting.

“Yeah, I sort of told Will the same thing. Well, I said I’d take it easy, and then he got upset when I was training and said I could rip my stitches.” Hazel sighed.

“Okay, first, who is Will?”

“Oh, he’s one of the healers here. You probably haven’t met him, I guess. I forgot about that.” She nodded.

“Why were you training after getting stitches?” Nico was about to defend himself, but she cut him off. “I’ve seen you train, Nico. That’s not exactly “taking it easy”. You know that.” He sighed.

“I don’t know, I guess I’m just stressed out. He keeps being nice to me and I keep messing things up. It feels weird. I don’t know if he’s just being nice or if he wants to be my friend.” Hazel stared at him for a moment, clearly thinking about something.

“Do what makes you happy.” Nico sighed in frustration.

“I don’t know what makes me happy.” His sister yawned, then looked at him sympathetically.

“Nico, I’m going to go. I want you to think about it. Don’t overthink, and don’t only think worst case scenario. Just consider it. For me?” Nico nodded. His mouth felt dry as they said their goodbyes. When the image of his sister disappeared, he fell back onto his bed and rubbed his face with his hands.

Nico was afraid of being happy. He was afraid of really caring about someone. He was afraid of being cared about. Hazel may not have realized it, but he was more scared of losing her than he could ever be afraid of something like flying (even if he hated it with a passion). He was scared of being happy and secure with the risk of that happiness and security being taken away. He didn’t want to lose anyone else. He wasn’t sure he could stand losing someone else.

He decided to sleep on it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico goes to Jason about his talk with Hazel, and they talk about more than expected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly can’t thank you guys enough for the support on this story. It’s a nice way to put myself out into the world (even if it’s a little weird to write fanfiction). This update is happening sooner than the last one, but I did wish it were out sooner. I hope you guys like it (:

** Nico **

_ Nico was afraid of being happy. He was afraid of really caring about someone. He was afraid of being cared about. Hazel may not have realized it, but he was more scared of losing her than he could ever be afraid of something like flying (even if he hated it with a passion). He was scared of being happy and secure with the risk of that happiness and security being taken away. He didn’t want to lose anyone else. He wasn’t sure he could stand losing someone else. _

_ He decided to sleep on it. _

\- - - - - -

Nico woke up and got out of bed. He’s always had a lot of energy in the morning, so he tried to make the best of things before the rest of the camp woke up.

The first thing he did was take a shower, then walk to the Zeus cabin. He knocked on the door twice, deciding that if Jason didn’t answer he would just go back to his cabin to wait for breakfast. Just as he began considering whether to walk away or not, the door swung open.

He had to take a moment.

Jason looked dead on his feet. His hair was messy, his glasses were slightly crooked, and his pajama pants were wrinkled. The blonde leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms over his bare chest. It looked like he hadn’t slept in a week.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Nico asked.

“Worse, actually. I slept for about an hour, and then I woke up. That was when I couldn’t sleep anymore.” He pushed himself off of the doorframe to stand up straight. “What’s up? Usually Piper is the one coming to get me if I miss breakfast.” Nico’s confidence began to disappear. He began to feel like he wanted to leave all of a sudden.

“I’m going to talk to you, and I don’t want you to tell people what we talked about.” Jason stepped backwards into his cabin, inviting Nico inside.

“Okay. I mean, that beats sitting around and waiting until it’s time to eat,” Jason replied with a small smile. Nico took his invitation and stepped into the cabin. The statue of Zeus stood in the center of the room, his gaze cold and judging. Nico attempted to ignore the thing, trying to prepare himself for the conversation he was about to try to have.

While looking around, he noticed that Jason had moved his things into the corner Thalia had claimed when she stayed there. Her stuff had been moved to a different corner, put away neatly. Nico followed Jason to the newly stolen corner and sat down next to him (making sure to keep space between them).

“So...what do you want to talk about?” The blonde asked after the awkward silence that had permeated the room. Nico hesitated, but decided that there was no point in coming this far just to give up.

“I talked to Hazel last night.” Jason nodded. Nico waited a while before continuing. “I told her about my feelings for Percy. And she said that she still loves me.” It felt good to say, but knowing that he was talking about all of that just made him feel weird.

Jason smiled. He looked genuinely happy, too, which confused Nico a bit.

“That’s good!” he said. “Do you think you want to start telling more people around camp, too? I know that most of the Aphrodite and Apollo kids are pretty open to things, so if you wanted to start anywhere-“

“No, not now. And if I did, where would I even start?” Nico rested his head against the wall next to him. Jason frowned slightly, reached his hand towards Nico, then drew back suddenly.

“Sorry. I know you don’t like being touched.” Nico didn’t react to what he said, but it was nice to know that Jason was respecting his boundaries. “You’re friends with Will, right? If anyone in the Apollo cabin is open minded, it would be him.” Nico sat back up and shook his head.

“That’s not a good idea. After yesterday I think I need to calm down.” Jason looked at him, clearly a bit confused.

“What happened yesterday?” he asked.

“We just argued.” Neither one of them said anything after that for a bit. Jason spoke up first, his voice a bit less confidant.

“I have something to talk about too, actually.” He hesitated, then spoke. “I talked to Will the other day — I mean, it wasn’t a for more than a minute — then I went to Piper afterwards. I haven’t talked to her as much since we broke up, but she’s smarter than some people give her credit for.” Nico nodded, wondering where this was going. “I’ve been thinking about things since we went to get that scepter for the quest, and...“ He paused, as if trying to find the right words.

“You didn’t tell them about the way I felt, did you?” Jason’s eyes widened and he shook his head.

“No. I wouldn’t do that. I promised I wouldn’t, remember?” Nico nodded again, a bit calmer now. “I actually talked about my feelings. When Juno gave Piper and Leo those memories — after she wiped  _ my _ memory — I dated Piper because she thought she had feelings for me. I thought I had feelings for her too at first. I did love her, and I still do, but she’s one of my best friends, you know? It wasn’t romantic. Things weren’t the way the fake memories made her think they were, and, after a while, we talked about it. Neither one of us had liked each other that way. I mean, I can only think of a handful of times we even kissed, and since I’ve had more time to actually think about things after the war ended, I...” It was as if Jason’s words failed him. It took a few moments for him to begin talking again. “Juno hated me, and she probably still does. I had never dated anyone before Piper. And when we confronted Cupid it felt like I had even more to question. I didn’t want to dwell on it, though, so I just ignored it.” Jason took a deep breath, then continued. “I’m bisexual.“ Nico was surprised at that. “I mean, I’m pretty sure that’s it, at least. I don’t _think_ I’m gay. But yeah, I’ve been talking to Piper about it.” Nico could feel the tension and discomfort radiating from the son of Jupiter. 

“Was that why you couldn’t sleep?” he asked somewhat jokingly. Jason laughed.

“Probably,” he replied, the uncomfortable feeling dissipating. “It’s weird. I don’t know if I’m used to feeling like this, but I know I’ve been trying to ignore it since Cupid brought up my relationship. And I think being able to see your memories...It triggered something. I don’t know what it was, but I know it had to have been something important.” Nico almost wanted to laugh.

“Percy triggered your gay side?” This time it was more obvious that he was joking.

“Oh gods, don’t say that,” the blonde laughed. “I’m too tired to think about it right now.” Nico blew air out of his nose in a way that was almost a laugh, but then he began to think.

“Are you going to regret telling me this?” he asked.

“No. I don’t know who else I’m ready to talk to, though. Maybe I’m just comfortable right now.” He looked at Nico, then stood up. “Do you want to eat with us this morning? It should just be me, Piper, and Leo. Percy and Annabeth are spending their breakfast alone together.” 

“Do Piper and Leo even like me?” Nico asked.

“I mean, they definitely don’t _dislike_ you. They’ll definitely like you if you let them.” Nico sighed. 

“Okay.” Nico followed his friend’s lead and stood up. “You might want to put on a shirt first, though,” he said. 

“Oh, yeah.”

“And, Jason?” The blonde looked at Nico after grabbing a shirt off of the floor. “...Thanks.”

Jason smiled, then put on the plain purple shirt and a pair of flip flops before they walked out of the cabin together. They got a few confused looks from the people that noticed them leave the same place, but no one said anything to their faces as the two made their way to the dining pavilion. Piper and Leo were already waiting at the Zeus table when they got there.

“Hey guys, Nico is going to hang out with us this morning,” Jason said as they sat down across from the other two.

“Okay.” Nico noticed the atmosphere change when Jason said that, but he tried to ignore it.

Nico waited a few awkward moments before speaking. “I know I’m not all sunshine and rainbows, but I don’t mind conversation.” Piper and Leo looked confused for a moment. “I mean, you guys seem fun, and I wouldn’t mind talking to you.” His brain was screaming something along the lines of  _abort_ _mission_ after he said that. 

“He wants to be more talkative and friendly,” Jason told them. Piper nodded, but Leo just kept his eyes on Nico. The Italian demigod nodded as the food of his choice appeared on his plate. Just a fried egg and a piece of toast. 

“So you want to try to be friends?” Leo asked. Nico nodded again, then stabbed the egg with his fork so the yolk poured out of it. “Why would you want to be friends with _us_?” The Latino asked as Nico began dipping the toast in the egg yolk.

“Why wouldn’t I want to be friends with you guys?” Nico replied curiously. Leo looked genuinely confused by the question.

“I mean, we’re not really like Jason or Percy. Well, maybe Piper is, but I’m definitely not,” Leo replied.

“What are you looking at?” Jason asked Piper. The girl only furrowed her eyebrows, not shifting her gaze towards the group.

“Will looks sick. Like, _really_ sick.” The group at the table followed her gaze. The counselor of the Apollo cabin looked like he was ready to fall over and pass out. His friend Lou Ellen was practically glued to his side, though, and she didn’t look the least bit concerned.

“Do Apollo kids get sick?” Leo questioned almost jokingly.

“It looks like they do,” Jason replied.


End file.
